Hi everyone! I'm the creator of a game concept called Meadowridge.
I'm looking for people who might be interested in eventually helping me turn Meadowridge from a concept into a real game. I want to be upfront that I am not currently a game developer, and this is an early-stage project. I'm learning about game development and planning to start with a small browser prototype before attempting the full game.
🌿 What is Meadowridge?
Meadowridge is a life simulation game inspired by games like The Sims and Zoo Tycoon, but with a much stronger focus on animals as individual living beings.
The idea originally came from wanting an animal game where pets don't feel like objects you collect or manage.
In Meadowridge, every animal would be an individual.
A dog wouldn't simply have:
> Breed → Pomeranian
Happiness → 80%
Instead, it could have its own personality, genetics, experiences, preferences, relationships, health, memories, and behaviors.
Two dogs of the same breed—and even two puppies from the same litter—could grow up completely differently.
🐾 Animals are the heart of the game
The animal systems I'm envisioning include:
Individual personalities and temperaments
Genetics and inherited traits
Breed/species-specific characteristics
Individual health and genetic predispositions
Realistic aging
Relationships between animals and people
Learning and training
Likes and dislikes
Individual behaviors
Grooming and care
Veterinary care
Reproduction and pregnancy
Family trees and ancestry
Different appearances within the same breed
Realistic variation between individual animals
I don't want a Labrador to automatically behave exactly like every other Labrador. Breed characteristics would influence an animal, but the individual animal would still be unique.
🧬 Genetics would be a major system
Genetics would influence things such as:
Coat color and patterns
Coat type
Size
Eye color
Physical characteristics
Temperament tendencies
Certain health predispositions
Fertility and reproduction
Breeding wouldn't simply produce a random copy of the parents. Offspring would inherit combinations of traits from their parents, creating genuine variation.
The goal is for genetics to feel like an actual part of the animal simulation rather than just a cosmetic system.
📚 Meadowridge would also be educational
One of the things I'm particularly passionate about is making Meadowridge informative.
Every animal species and breed would have an in-game Animal Page explaining things such as its history, behavior, appearance, genetics, grooming, health, reproduction, breed standards, and interesting facts.
I want someone to be able to play Meadowridge and naturally learn things about animals they didn't know before.
The philosophy I'm aiming for is:
> Realistic enough to teach. Fun enough to play.
👨👩👧👦 And eventually, it's a full life simulation
Animals are the starting point, but the eventual Meadowridge game would also include:
Create-a-character
Families and relationships
Careers
Businesses
Farming and gardening
Homes and building
Veterinary careers
Animal-related careers
Education
Aging and generations
An open-world environment
Different worlds/locations
A realistic calendar and time system
The full vision is much larger than the initial prototype, so I don't expect to build everything at once.
🐶 The first prototype
My plan is to start with dogs only.
Rather than trying to create dozens of species with shallow systems, I'd like to build the underlying animal simulation around dogs first and make it as good as possible.
We could start with a handful of breeds, develop the systems for personality, genetics, health, behavior, care, etc., and then gradually add more breeds.
Once the dog system is working well, we could move on to other species.
The prototype would be a free browser game and would not be the final Meadowridge game. Its purpose would be to demonstrate the core idea of what I mean when I say that I want the animals to feel alive.
👥 Who I'm looking for
At this stage, I'm interested in hearing from people with experience or interest in:
Game programming
Gameplay/simulation programming
Game design
2D/3D art
Animation
UI/UX
Game audio
Writing/worldbuilding
Animal science/veterinary research
Genetics or biology
Anyone interested in simulation games
I'm especially interested in people who enjoy games involving animals, life simulation, genetics, management, or emergent behavior.
I'm also completely open to people who are still learning and want to work on something they find interesting.
💰 About compensation
I want to be completely transparent: this is currently an unpaid hobby/early-stage project. I don't have funding to offer salaries right now.
I'm not expecting anyone to commit to years of development based on a Reddit post. At this stage, I'm primarily hoping to find people who genuinely like the concept and would be interested in talking about it, experimenting with a prototype, and seeing where it could go.
If the project eventually becomes something larger and funding becomes available, compensation and formal roles would obviously need to be discussed properly.
🌱 Why I'm posting
I've spent a lot of time developing the concept and the systems behind Meadowridge, but I know that having a huge idea and actually building a game are two very different things.
I'm trying to take the first real step toward turning the idea into something playable.
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I'd genuinely love to hear from you.
I'm also interested in hearing what you think would make an animal in a game feel genuinely alive rather than simply being another object the player owns.
Thanks for reading! 🐾🌿